Demon's Ward
by Noc and NC
Summary: Whether they were an apple and an orange or a demon and an angel, he'd help the kid out, because someone has to. Ioryogi knows better than anyone how much of a Dobato she can be.


She was not human.

This was a truth that she could understand, even if she was a Dobato.

The secret that was hidden underneath her various hats and layered hair was proof enough for that, not to mention her birthplace or her 'parent', for lack of a better word- not that the stupid kid could remember any of that.

But she longed to return to her homeland. This was apparent, for without even knowing where or what sort of place it was, she knew she wanted to go there.

"There's a place I want to go to!" she would exclaim with overflowing perseverance, time and time again. An average listener would pass such a string of words off as her cute way of being vague, for one reason or another- but he was not slight of hearing, so he could tell that she in truth knew just that much about where she wanted to go.

It was a place which called out to her, beckoned her to come, though she knew not of its whereabouts or landscape, or even a name by which she could call it. The place she wanted to go to was all it could be referred to as.

He had been to that place before, though he wasn't exactly welcomed there. The local residents were close to being related to him, almost like siblings, but in the end their natures were too different. Like comparing apples and oranges. Both fruit, but with completely different flavors. Angels and demons. Both ethereal beings, but having completely different reasons for being around.

Not to say that he was completely _demonic_, he did have his good days. That girl was no damned _angel,_ neither- not yet, anyways. The Dobato couldn't tell up from down when it came to the ways of humans. She had to learn that not everyone in the world was as glimmeringly innocent as she felt they were. Her heart was kind, but also soft. If she were to ever gain the title of 'angel' then she'd have to smarten up and loose that squishiness in her heart.

Maybe that's why he was making her go through this all. Before she could return to her homeland, he would toughen her up. Wow them all with her prodigy development in the art of healing others. That was what she existed for, after all. It would be simple for him to take her there, being the powerful being he was- but he felt a test was in order. Rather, training.

He had encountered her one fall evening, in the depths of the woods far from human civilization, having entered his stuffed toy form rather recently. It was just on the borders of where she wanted to go, in fact.

"N…nuigurumi?" she said with a sleepy voice, her eyes fluttering slightly. Looking confused with her own statement, she tried again. "Akuryou?"

"Neither" he recalled snorting at her naked form. "What are you doing, lying around here like this? Don't have your head covered- or the _rest_ of you for that matter. What'd happen if some person pranced up here and spotted you, huh?"

She didn't say anything in response, not even an apology. She just stared at him with her tired eyes that didn't know what exactly what they were looking at.

He remembered wondering why she was even in that place, because although her body wasn't all that young in shape, she was centuries behind him. She didn't even know how to conjure up clothing for herself, which would have explained the bareness. There was a prickle of curiosity forming in him, and maybe a bit of misplaced responsibility.

"Oi, kid" he waved one of his plush paws at her. "Got a name?"

For a minute she was unresponsive, her slender and most likely cold body lying on the forest floor. Like a doll, she was pretty and motionless- a funny thing considering that he was the one in a toy form, only he was less then pretty and hated staying still.

"K…Kobato. Hanato Kobato"

Another funny thing. Her name summed up her cuteness with ease, fitting her like a glove- something she could use on a night like this, he observed. He waddled up to Kobato, pointing at her with on stubby blue limb to gain her complete attention.

"You look pathetic!" he announced, making her jump, if only a little bit. "Listen up, Hanato Kobato! You got a wish?!"

"I have a place I want to go to!" she blurted almost immediately, as though she had been praying he'd ask her a question to prompt the subject. "I'm not sure why, but I really, really want to go there!"

He nodded sagely. Home, no doubt. Someone so young should not have even left their nest yet. "Then you'll have to meet some demands! If you can do that, you can go where you want to go!"

Her expression changed for the better, lighting up as quick as a firecracker but with the warm glow of a lamplight. "R-really?!"

He nodded again. "So let's go, Kobato. To town"

He started walking away, and she scrambled to follow him, the sudden appearance of the clothes on her figure going unnoticed by the young girl.

"Ah! Ah, wait for me, Nuigurumi-san!"

"That isn't my name!"

"Then, then Akuryou-san!"

"That's not it either, stupid!"

"But what should I call you then?"

He stopped in his tracks. With this new form, he had forgotten to pick a new name for himself as well. He couldn't associate with this girl- this angel in the making- if he were to live as his real self. A false identity would have to be given.

Any other of his kind would have ignored the girl, but he couldn't stop himself from defying his dominant and more logical instincts for this her. He had too much history with her kind, and leaving this kid to wither away would be like leavening _her_ to die, too.

Even _if_ he was a demon, and she an angel, he refused to let that become a barrier.

"Ioryogi" he growled, recalling the name suggested to him long ago, if they ever…

"Ioryogi-san!" the little girl chirped.

A scoff came from his mouth. "Don't say it with so much cheer. You got no idea who you're talking to, kid"

And she didn't. It was like little red riding hood being cared for by the big bad wolf.

He might have been considered to be a demon, but since when did he care about that crap? He'd help the Dobato out no matter what Ginsei or anyone else said about it, get her to the place where she wanted to go- get her _home_- and that was as good a reason as any to hang out in the human world, where he refused to leave.

He was a demon, but the kid was a ward to keep his bad side away from others, since it was her job, anyways. She was his ward, and he'd keep her safe, even though that wasn't _his_ job.

* * *

In truth, this is my musing on what Kobato actually is, and what 'Ioryogi'- as its not his real name- is and how they met and _why_ he's with her. I have a rock solid belief that she isn't human, since for one, she's impossibly naive. Two, she's not allowed to take off her hat. That right there confirms she's hiding something under it. I'd be so jazzed if the wind blew it away and she had, like...horns or something. That would make my day. With her haircut, you can't see her ears clearly either, so maybe their pointed or something. That would make me pretty happy too. Three, she isn't allowed to fall in love with whomever she heals. Forbidden love between species, that's what I sense. And Ioryogi is one big, blue, plushy mystery. I really think he has some big history behind him and why he's helping Kobato.

Its the second one-shot I've ever written, with only a little information on the characters, so please be gentle...


End file.
